


Dear Lover

by Einfach_Antonia



Category: One Piece
Genre: Denial of Feelings, Enemies to Friends, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/M, Flashbacks, Fluff, Introspection, Light Angst, Post-Time Skip, Romance, Secret Relationship, Secrets
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-08
Updated: 2020-11-03
Packaged: 2021-03-04 21:08:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 15,414
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25152934
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Einfach_Antonia/pseuds/Einfach_Antonia
Summary: The man in front of her was even taller and bigger than Smoker, his brown hair was in a military cut and his blue eyes pierced through every inch of her skin… at least that’s what it felt like.“Captain Tashigi, please hand over your sword. You are under arrest in suspicion of high treason.”
Relationships: Roronoa Zoro & Tashigi, Roronoa Zoro/Tashigi
Comments: 50
Kudos: 59





	1. Imprisonment

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Converselaces](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Converselaces/gifts).



> This one is for [Cara](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Converselaces/works) because without her this would not exist.
> 
> This one is for [Tai](https://www.fanfiction.net/u/7366585/) for giving me the best name for a man I created only for your suggestions.
> 
> And as usual this one is for [Luna](https://archiveofourown.org/users/lunnamars/pseuds/lunamars) thanks for beta reading, Wifey.

**Dear Lover**

**Chapter One: Imprisonment**

Tashigi always loved to be out on the sea, she loved the feeling of the waves rocking the ship back and forth and she loved to look out on the wide ocean and to get lost in thought.

But as much as she loved to be out and about, she also loved to be on land. Mostly she loved it when they got ordered to the Marine Headquarters, it was always exciting to watch the recruits starting their training or to catch up with old colleagues, which she only met once every few months, if at all.

Although this time her unit was not ordered there explicitly by the Headquarters and more by Vice Admiral Smoker himself, Tashigi enjoyed their stay. She did not know how long she and the rest of the G-5 would be staying though. Smoker just dropped them off, said he had business to attend and he would come back as soon as that was taking care of. A week has passed since then and not a single word was heard from Smoker until now.

Tashigi did not mind, she knew how to keep herself busy and she knew exactly how to keep her men busy. The men of the G-5 needed a strict daily routine, otherwise, they would cause mayhem out of boredom. That is why she developed a streamlined daily schedule that contained a lot of training. So, at the end of the day, the soldiers were going straight to bed because they were way too tired to do anything else.

Right now, they all were in one of the many training rooms and were competing in a sword fight against some of the newer recruits. Her men were good to use in a fight, Tashigi knew that by heart, but it would not hurt for them to work on their techniques. Also, it was a brilliant way of teaching young soldiers.

She did not participate in the lesson, this time. Her focus was on correcting the men and women and to help them to give their best.

“That is great handling of the sword, Miyu. But you need to keep an eye on your footing.”

The young woman looked up at her, followed by a glance in the direction of her own feet.

“I always thought my footing is good, I never had any problems with it either,” she answered.

Tashigi smiled answering the recruit, “Just because you never had any problems with your footing doesn’t mean that you can’t pay attention to it and get even better. Go over to Yosha, I showed him some exercises yesterday to tackle that.”

“Yes, Captain Tashigi,” saluted Miyu and then turned around to go to the other side of the room.

After correcting some more Tashigi stood at the front of the room and decided just to watch. It was always good to give out advice and tips, but then there always needed time to practice undisturbed. She stood next to the two Lieutenants, who were responsible for this year’s recruits. Both men used her presence and the fact that she had an eye on the recruits to engage themselves in a private conversation. Tashigi did not mind, she had fun keeping an eye on the trainees.

As she leaned against the wall not far from them, she could not avoid a little eavesdropping on their conversation.

“How is your wife doing? The due date must be right around the corner.”

A smile crept up on the lips of the blonde Lieutenant when he answered his colleague:

“Three more weeks, I cannot wait for this baby to be born. My vacation days were approved yesterday, and I’m gonna set sail in two days to be home in time.”

“Good thing, dude. Good thing.”

Tashigi felt herself smile too. Long-distance relationships were never easy, especially when you were part of the Navy. But it made it easier when one of them had a steady home, but of course in Tashigi’s relationship that was not the case.

She had been in this pretty steady relationship for more than a year now and they both dedicated their lives to the sea. It was far from easy; they never knew exactly when they could meet again and their only way to stay in contact was through letters.

And to make it even more complicated for themselves they had decided to keep their relationship a secret, even to their friends and family.

She sighed heavily, not realizing the looks she got from the two Lieutenants besides her. Tashigi missed him every day; the last time she saw him and was able to spend some time with him was four weeks ago. Her latest letter was sent two weeks ago and must have arrived by now.

It was always an adventure to get a response from him and to read about all the stuff that’s happened to him and his crew in the meantime.

The young Captain was so lost in her thoughts that she did not hear the heavy boots making their way to the training room, but everyone else heard them.

The recruits interrupted their exercises, the Lieutenants stopped their conversation and everyone turned to the doors and watched stunned when Vice Admiral Tanaka entered the room with ten of his best soldiers in tow.

“Captain Tashigi!”

The loud voice of the Vice-Admiral brought her back and she looked at him full of surprise until she remembered who he was and who she was.

“Vice Admiral Tanaka!” she saluted.

The man in front of her was even taller and bigger than Smoker, his brown hair was in a military cut and his blue eyes pierced through every inch of her skin… at least that’s what it felt like.

“Captain Tashigi, please hand over your sword. You are under arrest in suspicion of high treason.”

The room, pretty quiet to begin with, was now deafening. Tashigi blinked once, then twice.

“Excuse me… Vice Admiral. But why?” she asked completely in shock.

Tanaka shot her an annoyed look but answered anyway:

“During a routine search of your room, we found some incriminating letters.”

Tashigi stiffened because of multiple things… firstly she wondered why her rooms were part of a routine search, she was a Captain after all. Secondly… they found his letters… his damned letters.

“Now please hand over your sword and follow us in peace.”

She knew that there was no use in picking a fight right now, Vice Admiral Tanaka and his men were one of the best units the Navy had and they were fast and merciless. Without further hesitation, she took Shigure from her side and gave it to one of the soldiers. She felt all eyes on her when she straightened her back and followed Vice Admiral Tanaka out of the room, his soldiers encircling her… as if they were afraid that she would try to escape.

*~*~*~*~*~*

_ Dear Lover, _

_ Did you get lost? On your ship? Again? How many times has it been since I last saw you? You should get a map or something. But I doubt, that even that would be a big help for you. _

_ Anyway, yesterday we arrived at the Headquarters and of course, the guys wanted to head straight to the city to drink and gamble. Luckily, I had their daily schedule already worked out, so there will be no chance for them to do that and bring shame to my unit. _

_ I still have no idea why Vice Admiral left us here but it must be pretty important to him. Funny, I never saw him so worked up about something that had nothing to do with the Straw-Hat. This makes me wonder what this so-called business is, it’s the first time I saw him taking some of his vacation days, normally you always had to force them on him. Hopefully, I’ll get some answers once he comes back and we set sail again. _

_ What are you up to? Saved another island? Fought another criminal? Or did you even rescue another damsel in distress? Tell me everything. _

_ I miss you dearly and as much as I enjoy my visit to the Headquarters, I wish we would not be here. It is always easier to live with our separation when we’re both on the sea, the chances of accidentally meeting you are higher this way. _

_ Hope to hear from you soon, hoping, even more, to see you soon. _

_ I love you. _

_ Your Babygirl _

_ P.S. Seriously? Getting lost on your ship? _

“Breakfast is ready!”

The young man hastily shoved the letter into his pocket and made his way to the kitchen.

“Why are you in such a good mood this morning, moss head?”

Zoro turned his head to Sanji who was looking at him very suspiciously.

“That’s none of your business,” he answered.

Sanji didn’t seem convinced, but Zoro couldn’t care less. Hell would freeze over before he would tell that damn cook why he was in such a good mood. Letters from his Babygirl always put him in a good mood, but there was no need for his crewmates to know that.

That was until Zoro felt a hand slip into his pocket and fish for the piece of paper. Instinct took over and he grabbed the hand forcefully and slammed the filthy thief against the next wall. Full of anger he glared at Usopp.

“Do. Not. Touch. My. Stuff. Ever. Again. Got it?!”

“Oi, Zoro! Keep it down. You are scaring him to death. I am sure he did not mean it!” Nami’s voice rang from behind him.

But Zoro did not let go, as he continued to glare at Usopp who had started to tremble as soon as his back had hit the wall.

“Did you get it?” Zoro asked again and finally, Usopp nodded.

He let go of his crewmate and left the kitchen. Zoro was no longer in the mood for breakfast.

*~*~*~*~*~*

Stupid Sanji.

Stupid Usopp.

Ruining his good mood effortlessly.

He had known better than to go directly into the kitchen, he should have waited for his big fat grin to fade a little.

Zoro locked himself in the crow’s nest and stared out on the sea. He was more than aware that he was the one to blame here. It was not Usopp’s fault that he got curious. It was just natural. He would be curious too, even when he would not openly display it.

But they decided to not tell anybody about their connection and even though it was pretty hard to keep it a secret, it was better this way.

It was safer.

If anyone knew about their relationship, they both were in danger. She even more than him. After all… she was a Marine and he was a pirate.

With a heavy sigh, he pulled her letter out of his pocket and read it again. He missed her every day but on days when a letter of hers arrived, it was always worse. These days always showed him even more how far apart they were.

Especially now… with her staying in the Headquarters even more than usual.

Just like she wrote in her letter, he preferred to when they were both on their ships. It was also an advantage that her Vice Admiral had gotten it into his head to arrest Zoro's captain.

This way her ship was always on their heels and sooner or later they would end up meeting.

They always managed to sneak away from both of their crews and even if it were just for half an hour. But they managed. They chose this life and they promised each other to make it work. And they did… for more than a year now. Still happy. Still as much in love as the day, he first kissed her.

He knew that he needed to apologize to Usopp and that he needed a somehow logical explanation for his behavior, but that could wait. First, he would write back to his Babygirl. And while he was sitting down and started to scribble his answer, he couldn’t stop thinking about meeting her again a little over two years ago.

*~*~*~*~*~*

Zoro was more than annoyed. He was seriously fed up. Fed up with Dracule Mihawk. Soooo fed up with him.

Six months ago Zoro begged him on his knees to train him so that he could get stronger and better. And Hawk Eyes agreed.

Zoro’s training started right away, until yesterday when Hawk Eye dropped the bomb and told Zoro that it was now his mission to protect a small island nearby for the next six months.

Where did that make sense?

How would that help to make him a better fighter?

Protecting a small island?

That made absolutely no sense at all!

And that was one of the reasons Zoro was fed up.

But there was even a second reason.

Zoro was told by Hawk Eyes that he would be picked up at the port by a guy named Guit… whatever.

But that guy never came and Zoro was left wandering across the stupid island for what seemed like hours.

Well… given his luck it has been hours since he left the port.

The worst part was that, since he arrived at the island, he had not met one single living soul. Even at the damn port, not a living soul had been seen. A cemetery was more crowded than this place.

Stupid Hawk Eyes.

The stupid island, whose name he could not remember.

Stupid Quit-guy that never showed up.

Angrily Zoro pushed some branches out of his face and continued to walk through the forest. He could have sworn that he saw a small town to his right, it was a mystery to him how he got into a fucking forest.

A forest! When he wanted to get into town!

Fucking directions! Why did they change all the time?

With every step he took the air became more humid and soon he actually started to sweat. Great, fucking great.

But he had no other choice than to march on and after what felt like another hour Zoro finally saw something different than bushes, grass, and trees.

  
  


A small cottage in the middle of a clearing. Zoro could not imagine living in the middle of the woods, but each to their own, right?

He was nearing the cottage from the back and when he rounded the corner he saw that probably no one was living in this cottage because it was a changing room for the hot springs nearby.

  
  


Well, that at least explained the humidity. Zoro just hoped to meet someone who could help him find this weird guy that he should have met at the port.

“Oi, you!” Zoro spoke to the person sitting in the water.

Might be rude, but who cared?

However the person did not seem to have heard him because that dude was still sitting way too calmly in the water, head leaned against the edge and not moving a muscle.

“I am talking to you!” Zoro said louder starting to round the pond. At that exact moment, the person chose to turn around and Zoro froze.

“FUCK!” was all that came to his mind and out of his mouth.

“RORONOA ZORO! DON’T MOVE! YOU ARE UNDER ARREST!!” his personal nightmare screamed while she rose out of the water.

Zoro, already in shock from seeing her, widened his eyes even more and then immediately turned his back to her.

“I said: DON’T MOVE!” she repeated and Zoro could not fight the urge to yell back at her.

“YOU ARE BUTT NAKED, WOMAN! WOULD YOU PREFER ME LOOKING AT YOU?”

He had already seen more than he ever wanted. As if knowing her and her face wasn’t enough… no, now he knew how she looked naked. That’s an image he probably could never get rid of.

What was she doing here anyway? Shouldn’t she be chasing pirates or something?

“Put your swords on the ground and raise your hands over your head! Slowly!”

Zoro snorted. As if!

She probably stood at her full height behind him, both hands in her sides, glaring at him. But he better get going! He highly doubted that she would chase after him in the undressed state that she was currently in.

He was just about to make the first step when a crack to his right made him stop. His hand wandered to his sword and he got ready to attack. The cracks were getting louder and weren’t that far away anymore. Behind him, he could hear that damned Copycat woman leaving the water and placing herself next to him.

STILL FUCKING NAKED!

There was no more time to argue about her idiocy when an older looking man stumbled out of the woods.

“OH hey! You must be Roronoa Zoro! I’ve been looking for you for hours and… OH MY LORD. By all, that’s sweet and holy, Tashigi! Put some clothes on!”

Zoro could not avoid looking at her again, though making sure his eyes never left her face, which had turned into a nice and, for her, embarrassing scarlet red. Served her right!

She FINALLY made an effort to cover herself with a towel that lay next to the hot spring. And because she was the clumsy woman that she was, she stumbled into the dirt first.

Both Zoro and the newcomer sighed simultaneously, but Zoro broke his gaze from Tashigi. The man, who told her to cover up now looked at him and for the first time, Zoro really realized his looks.

He had to be older than him, maybe as old as… Smoker? Greyish hair, brown eyes, clean-shaven, and wearing clothes like a Priest.

“Eh… hello. I am my Quintanilla, the Priest of this island. I was expecting to meet you at the port and not in the middle of the woods peeping at my daughter.”

Zoro raised his eyebrows skeptically. His daughter? They looked nothing alike… And peeping?! Zoro did not peep on her!

“I was waiting at the port but there was no one. So I just…”

“Quintanilla! What is he doing here? Do you even know who he is?” that Copycat woman interrupted him.

Again the Priest sighed.“Sweety, please. Don’t yell at me and certainly not when you’re not even dressed. I am going to take our guest to the Church and you will get dressed!”

“But,” she started, but the man just held his hand up and she closed her mouth instantly.

That was impressive.

Zoro needed to learn how that trick worked.

“Follow me, my friend.”

With that Quint… Whatever turned around and started walking, Zoro followed him. And he only turned around to Tashigi again to stick out his tongue in her direction.

Ohhh… if looks could kill… he would probably drop dead, but that did not hinder his grin from spreading over his face.

They walked through the woods in silence. Zoro’s eyes fixed on the back of the Priest, presumably Copycat’s dad; hard to imagine.

But what the fuck was she doing here anyway? Was she on a vacation or something? Zoro could easily live his life without meeting her ever again. As if his mood wasn’t bad enough already.

Thinking back, it was the first time he saw her since… Alabasta. Zoro raised his brows again. Wow, that was a long time ago.

But the urge to run away was still in him, though not as strong as then. Well… hopefully, it was a short visit with the family for her and she would be gone out of his life again soon.

“Quintanilla! Wait!”

Zoro almost expected the Priest to wait for that yelling woman, but there was no sign that he planned to stop walking. He, too, expected her to trip and fall, but she didn’t do him that favor this time. What a shame.

She rushed past him, straight to the Priests' side.

“Quin. What is he doing here? That is Roronoa Zoro!” she started saying.

So what?

“I know who he is, Sweety, and I certainly know his name,” the Priest answered calmly while walking straight out of the forest.

“He is a pirate!”

“Tashigi, please. This kind of conversation is not one to have in the middle of the woods. Wait. As soon as we reach the church, I will explain everything to you.”

But Tashigi did not seem to have it and kept talking to him. It was astonishing how the Priest kept his calm while she hastily blabbered. Zoro himself would have already snapped at her.

And while she was having this one-sided conversation, Zoro was eyeing her warily.

She looked a little different than the last time. More toned, she even seemed to have grown a few inches; just like her dark hair. Before it only reached her chin, now it fell past her shoulders.

But she still liked these colorful clothes. Light blue jeans, red boots, yellow blouse with pink flowers. The blouse was buttoned up all the wrong way so he could get a glimpse at her toned stomach… and was that a shiny silvery thing in her belly button?

Zoro tore his gaze away from her and instead looked towards the church that was just coming into view. It was a small but an old one, built out of grey stone with a wide entrance made of ebony or something like that. Quintanilla entered the church, a babbling Tashigi still at his side, and Zoro followed suit. Not that he had any other chance.

As soon as the Priest reached the altar, he once again raised his hand but this time Tashigi did not shut her mouth.

“Quintanilla…. Please. What the f…. Freak is a pirate just like Roronoa doing on this island?”

He probably shouldn’t but somehow Zoro got a kick of knowing that his mere presence got her so riled up that she almost cursed in a church.

His host sent a chiding look her way and then turned to look at him.

“Please excuse her behavior, she has always been hot-headed.”

Zoro just smirked, if he knew one thing about the Marine it’s that she was a hothead… And a hot mess from time to time.

“So, let me, once again, welcome you to our beautiful island called The Silver Ait. I was expecting you to arrive later this evening, which was the reason why I was not waiting for you at the port, but as soon as a few of the kids told me about some green-haired guy heading straight into the woods, I tried to find you. Which was not that easy.”

“Yeah, because Roronoa would get himself lost on a piece of toast,” Tashigi squeezed in grinning.

That earned her a tired look from the Priest.

“Tashigi, you buttoned your blouse the wrong way.”

She blushed and immediately turned her back to both of them to rearrange her clothes.

Maybe coming here wasn’t so bad after all, Zoro thought to himself grinning.

“Well… where was I? Ah yeah… Now that I found and welcomed you, please excuse me while I explain your stay to my daughter.”

Oh… what a show this was, Zoro thought and realized how his mood was constantly lifting since his encounter with a naked Tashigi.

In the meantime, she had made sure that she was now probably dressed and started glaring at him, and she continued to stare at him all the time her father was talking to her.

“Zoro is staying with us for the next six months, to protect the island.”

Now her gaze dropped from him to her dad.“Protect? I did not know the island was in danger… You never mentioned it! I could have…”

Quintanilla soothingly raised his hand at her.“No, Sweety, the island is not in danger. It is all part of his training.”

“Training? What training?” she asked looking back at Zoro.

Uh, that would be fun!

Cockily he laid one of his hands on his swords and smirked at her.“My training with Hawk Eyes.”

“WHAT THE FUCK?!”

“TASHIGI, NO cursing in the church!”

But she did not even spare a glance at the Priest, instead, she took a step towards Zoro, mouth, and eyes wide. “YOU are training under Dracule Mihawk?!”

“Are you jealous?”

Tashigi started to open and close her mouth, clearly at loss for words; however, before Zoro could give her another snide remark Quintanilla spoke again.

“Now that we all have the same level of information, Tashigi, would you show Zoro to his room? It is the one right next to yours. Thank you.”

And with that, he was gone. Zoro wasn’t even sure that Tashigi had heard him. Still standing in the middle of the aisle, she was gaping at him she almost looked cute; if Zoro ever thought about her that way. Which he did not!

Anyway! He took a few steps towards her and held his backpack out to her, sneering.

“You heard him. Show me my room!”

Now she narrowed her eyes at him and even poked her finger in his chest.

“I am not gonna do that! And if you try anything nasty on this island or hurt any of the people living here… I will rip you to pieces, got it?”

“Fuck that! You? Ripping me to pieces?” he simply answered.

Again she poked her finger in his chest, hard.“NO cursing in the church!”

No matter how hard he tried, Zoro could not wipe away the satisfied grin from his face.

*~*~*~*~*~*

For the second time today, Tashigi ran after Quintanilla. She did not expect such a turn of events when she had woken up this morning.

“Quin! Can I talk to you?” she asked as soon as she was walking by his side.

“Of course you can. As long as it is not about Zoro. I just explained everything to you.”

Tashigi bit her lip.“But…,” she started and took a deep breath.“Why? Why did you agree? Do you not know what happened because of his crew six months ago?”

“I know exactly what happened six months ago. That is all you ramble about since you arrived home a week ago. But I do not care.”

“Dad…” she said and Quin finally stopped walking.

It was not often that she used this word to approach him anymore.

“Why did you agree to it then?”

With an empathetic smile, Quin was now looking at her. “An old friend asked me for a favor and I willingly agreed because I believe in the goodness of the people.”

“But what if the island really is under attack?”

Now he laughed. “Sweety. This is an island with a population of a thousand people. We are hardly worth attacking.”

“But what if we are someday? You’ll never know! And what if Roronoa does not help? What if he is the one behind the attack?”

He looked at her reproachfully. “Wasn’t it you, who told me about everything the Straw-Hat Pirates did for the people in Alabasta? Wasn’t it you, who told me that they saved the country? That the pirates were the real heroes on that day?”

Again Tashigi was at loss for words. He was right, but that did not mean that she had to like it.

“So, have a little faith. Trust him. He seems like a good guy.”

He gave her one last assuring smile and then he rounded the corner.

“Fuck!” Tashigi cursed, sure he was out of hearing distance.

“I heard that!”

Or not.

Fuck.

*~*~*~*~*~*

They had handcuffed her as soon as they entered Admiral Chiba’s office. It was not the first time she saw him, he was a pretty involved type of Admiral and was often seen in one of the training rooms, either training himself or helping soldiers to train.

He had also been the one from whom Tashigi had received her promotion to Captain.

Admiral Chiba was in his sixties and still a mountain of a man and packed with muscles. A long scar ran from his left temple to the right side of his neck. Normally there was always a sympathetic glint in his green eyes, but not today.

Today he looked at her seriously.

“Captain Tashigi!” he said.

The handcuffs made it difficult, but, nevertheless, she gave her best to salute. “Admiral Chiba.”

“I assume that Vice Admiral Tanaka told you why you are here?”

“Suspicion of high treason, Sir!”

“Right. Do you have anything to say about the accusations?”

“I have questions.”

“You are not in the position to ask any questions!” Tanaka chirped in and raised his hand, presumably to punch her.

“Vice Admiral,” Chiba’s strong voice thundered through the small office.

“Captain Tashigi is confronted with very serious accusations. As a member of the Navy, it is her given right to ask as much as she likes!”

She gave Tanaka a triumphant look and took a step forward.

“At first I want to know why my rooms were searched. I am a Captain and I worked hard for my rank! Never have I heard that rooms of Captains are searched.”

Admiral Chiba placed both of his elbows on his desk and looked at her. “We… had an anonymous tip. It said to search for certain letters in your room. Letters from a pirate.”

Tashigi gave her all to not show how surprised she was by that. An anonymous tip?

She already knew the answer to her next question, but she asked anyway. “And what did you find?”

Now the Admiral stood up, picked up a folder from his desk, and walked up to her.

“We found letters under your bed. Love letters, obviously. Love letters all signed with ‘Your Lover’ and a messy drawing of a pirate skull.”

Defeated, Tashigi closed her eyes.

“So, I am asking you once again: Do you have anything to say about the accusations?” Chiba asked her in earnest.

Tashigi opened her eyes again and looked him straight in the eye. “No.”

Now he looked at her in surprise. “You are not denying writing letters with a pirate?”

“I do not deny, but I also do not confirm.”

“Captain Tashigi,” Admiral Chiba said sighing. “Do you realize how serious these accusations are? Comradeship with a pirate is high treason! It's punishable by death! Having a romantic relationship with a pirate is even worse than comradeship! I want to make sure you realize that before you decide not to say anything.”

Tashigi remained silent.

She was more than aware of the situation she was in now. But she had sworn to keep this relationship a secret. And she would rather die than break that vow.

She just stood there, looking up in Admiral Chiba’s eyes without blinking. If they wanted to sentence her to death, so be it. Tashigi had known that this was a possibility when she headed into this relationship.

They had talked about it more than once.

Admiral Chiba continued to look at her, still with her letters in his hand. She did not know how much time passed until he sighed again and leaned against his desk.

“Vice Admiral Tanaka? Put her in a cell until I decide whether to formally charge her.”


	2. Crybaby

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chapter One Recap: We learned that our two love birds are in a secret relationship. And while Zoro defends his newest letter with questionable methods, Tashigi gets arrested for suspicion of high treason. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome back to chapter two of "Dear Lover" and thank you to each and every one of you who read chapter one and is still interested. :)

**Chapter Two: Crybaby**

Just one time.

Just one fucking time!

The only time he voluntarily took some vacation days, all things went to hell!

Arrested? His own Captain?

Tashigi? The righteous person to ever walk on earth?

Arrested for suspicion of high treason? If it wouldn’t be so serious, Smoker would almost laugh it off.

He heard the news when he was already on his way back to the headquarters. The whole unit wrote letters about the incident to him, and they were all begging him to come to Tashigi’s rescue.

As if he could do anything about it if their superiors decided to charge her. All he could do then was to speak in her favor and hope for the best.

The G-5 was already standing on the port when Smoker’s ship arrived, and as soon as his feet hit the jetty, they swarmed around him like a swarm of bees around their queen. Smoker just grunted.  _ Disgusting _ .

“Vice Admiral! You must do something!”

“Our Captain is innocent! She would never betray the Navy!”

“They are treating her like a filthy criminal. They put her in a CELL.”

The white hunter was used to the constant whining from the soldiers, so he simply started walking, heading straight to Admiral Chiba’s office. It was his order that led to Tashigi’s arrest, although Smoker suspected that someone else had the strings in hand.

*~*~*~*~*~*

As always, Admiral Chiba’s office door was open. When he was not in a serious conversation, his door was always open. Everybody was welcome to speak to him, about anything. He was the type of superior who would always listen to your problems and would even try his best to solve them.

This was just another reason why Smoker didn’t understand why he had ordered Tashigi to be arrested. But everything got clearer when he entered the office without knocking and saw not only Admiral Chiba but also Vice Admiral Tanaka.

“Vice Admiral Smoker? I did not expect you back so soon,” Chiba said looking up.

Smoker’s hazel eyes never left Tanaka as he saluted to his superior.

“I left early after I heard about the arrest of my Captain.”

Which was not entirely true but why not make people feel bad about it, right?

“Well… I am sorry that the news cut your vacation short. But this was nothing that could have waited until your return,” Chiba answered while Tanaka failed miserably to hide his satisfied smile.

“I want to know the real reasons why she got arrested,” Smoker demanded.

He did not care that his superior was looking at him wide-eyed. Who cared if the tone of his voice was inappropriate? Smoker definitely not.

“High Treason.”

“Yeah... but what treason? What has she done?”

“She is in a romantic relationship with a pirate,” Chiba simply answered.

Smoker grunted. “She has a boyfriend, so what?”

“Her so-called boyfriend is a pirate. Probably with a high bounty on his head! This is high treason!” Tanaka said angrily.

Smoker was not one to really hate someone. Most of the time he was just annoyed with people but Vice Admiral Tanaka was someone Smoker really could not stand.

“Captain Tashigi is definitely not the first marine with a pirate boyfriend and she will surely not be the last one. We all know that!” he argued. The two men before him exchanged an uncertain look before Chiba answered:

“Of course it is possible that she is not the first one and that she won’t be the last one. But with no one else did we ever had proof.”

Thereupon Smoker raised his eyebrows.“What proof?”

Chiba leaned back in his chair and looked at Smoker in a superior manner for a while. “You are her Vice Admiral and you really want to tell me, that you never had any suspicion regarding her love life?”

Smoker grunted again. “With all due respect, Sir! I am really not interested in the private life of my soldiers. And certainly not their love life.”

“So you've been seriously unaware of her relationship?”

“Correct! She does her job and she does it well. That is all I want from my subordinates.”

Smoker did not really get this whole conversation. Either show him the proof or release his Captain, as easy as that.

“Can I now see the so-called proof?” he requested.

And while Tanaka’s dirty grin got even bigger, Chiba picked up a piece of paper lying in front of him.

“This came yesterday. It was addressed to her. We found similar ones in her room.”

The longer Smoker read the letter, the more his eyes widened.

Was she seriously trying to fuck with him?

*~*~*~*~*~*

She should have burned them all. Like they agreed to. Tashigi should have burned every single one of his letters after reading them. To be fair, some of them did burn, the ones with too many clues to his identity or his current location.

But she kept the sweet and innocent ones. Those with his sweet words, with his jokes, his reminiscing of the uninterrupted months they had together. She kept the ones she read late at night when she was all alone and the longing was just too much for her to handle.

She has always known how risky keeping them was but she could not bring it over her to burn the few letters that helped her at least a little when she missed him too much.

And now she was paying the price. Arrested for high treason. But was true love really high treason? They had never talked about any kind of Navy operations when they were together. She had never even talked about the operations of her own unit. Her profession was seldom a topic of conversation between them only when her unit had messed with his crew. And they always kept conversations like that short.

But Tashigi knew better than to try and convince Admiral Chiba about this. He would never believe her anyway. All he wanted from her was the name of her Lover. The name and location, so the Navy could arrest him and preferably his crew too. But no matter the cost, she would keep quiet.

She sighed heavily and let her gaze wander through her cell. Not that there was something special to see. A small room with a narrow and uncomfortable cot, a dirty piece of cloth as a blanket, and a toilet that had probably not been cleaned for years. The complete front "wall" was made of bars, so there was no privacy.

Tashigi was only glad that the cell diagonally opposite was not occupied now. Otherwise, that person could watch her using the toilet, an experience Tashigi really was not eager to have. 

She already lost count of the days. There were no windows, so there was no sun or moon to tell her if it was day or night. Meals were also brought to her very irregularly. She had no idea how many days had passed since her arrest. And all she did was sit with her back to the wall, knees up to her chest, head buried in between.

When she heard heavy footsteps coming her way, she lifted her head and even smiled a little. There was only one person in her life with steps as heavy as that. Slowly and carefully she began to stand up. Even though her body was normally very strong, the irregular and not very nutritious meals were taking a toll on her. She could feel that her muscles were not quite as strong as they were a few days ago.

“Vice Admiral Smoker! Good to see you back,” she saluted as soon as he got into view. He stopped right in front of her and stared at her for a long time. Tashigi never lost eye contact and she never put her hand down.

“You… are unbelievable,” Smoker eventually started. “Stand at ease.”

Her smile widened while she relaxed her body, and he continued,

“What happened to your face?”

And, as quick as that, her smile faded. She put a hand on the left side of her face, there was no chance for her to look in a mirror but if the swelling was any indication, her face was not looking so good.

“I tripped,” she answered.

Smoker just looked at her suspiciously. “I saw you tripping your whole career but never this bad.”

Tashigi simply shrugged.

“Who punched you?”

“Nobody.”

“Tashigi! You are still a Captain. None of these motherfuckers have the right to lay hand on you, even when you got arrested for suspicion of high treason!”

She took her time answering him. Smoker had grabbed the bars with both of his hands, she clearly noticed the piece of paper in his right one, and he was staring at her. In all the years she had been sailing under him, she had never seen him stare like that before. The look in his eyes almost frightened her. There was anger in them and disappointment and maybe even a little bit of worry.

“So, they did not tell you?” she whispered.

“Tell me what?”

“They formally charged me yesterday. I was dishonorably discharged from the Navy. Therefore I am no longer a Captain.”

He took a step back, but did not let go of the bars though.

Tashigi did not know how long they both just stared at each other, but eventually, Smoker let go of the bars and broke eye contact. He straightened the piece of paper and looked at it.

“Babygirl… Is not exactly the most original pet name.”

Her eyes widened. “What?”

“This letter arrived yesterday… Let me read it to you.”

_ Dear Babygirl, _

_ Stop mocking me! At least I’m not tripping over my own feet while walking a straight line. I can’t wait to hear that you are back at sea again, I hate the thought of you being so far away from me. _

_ Your Vice Admiral has always been a weird man, so don’t ponder about his decisions too much. He won’t answer your questions anyway. _

_ Indeed, I saved another damsel in distress, although not on purpose. I just happened to stumble over her, literally. It was a pain in the ass to convince her that I did not want to marry her and spend the rest of my life in her freaking huge castle. _

_ Of course, the crew got a kick out of watching it. I would have loved to scream that I am happily taken, but unfortunately, that is not possible. But I hope that someday I will be able to tell each and everyone how happy I am with you. _

_ I miss you dearly. Can’t wait to see you again. Hopefully soon. _

_ I love you. _

_ Your Lover _

_ P.S. Let your boys have at least a little fun occasionally! _

With tears in her eyes, Tashigi smiled again. Typical him. Blunt and forward. Oh, how much she missed him!

“Thank you,” she whispered.

“For what?” Smoker answered stunned.

“For giving me his answer.”

And for telling her that she was stuck in that cell for at least a week.

Thanks to their personal mailbird, their letters usually took about a week to arrive. The bird was a gift from her father, he had not been happy with the decision to keep their relationship a secret, but he had always been very accepting. He just made them promise to be careful.

“Tashigi! Who is this guy?!”

“He… is the love of my life,” she started and did not miss the expression of disbelief in his eyes. “He is such a decent guy, although you have to crack his hard shell first before you find out what a great person he is. It took us some time to pull ourselves together but in the end, it all worked out. And that, Vice Admiral Smoker, is all I'll ever tell you about him.”

Smoker just stared at her again. She knew what he was thinking. Probably, that she had gone completely insane but even he would not understand her reasons and she did not expect him to.

“Tashigi!” he yelled at her and she knew that now one of his extremely rare lectures would follow. And instead of listening to him, Tashigi thought back to one the encounters that pathed the way for her not so original pet name.

*~*~*~*~*~*

One week had passed since Roronoa Zoro's arrival on The Silver Ait and Tashigi was still furious about it. She tried to avoid him to her best ability, but Quintanilla insisted that the three of them had dinner together. So, every evening she had to look at his face with that stupid grin. And she had to listen to his stupid stories about his stupid adventures with his stupid crew. Who would have thought that her own father was so damn interested in pirate stories?

She got sick just by thinking about it. As if it wasn’t enough that he was training with Dracule Mihawk, no, now he was spending six months on this island. On HER Island. Her home. Her sanctuary.

“Your footing is awful.”

Surprised, she miscalculated, had too much momentum, and promptly fell to the ground.

“Fuck,” she groaned.

Of course, it was him. She probably summoned him with her thoughts. Self-inflicted torture, she mused.

“I see you did not lose any of your clumsiness.”

“Shut up,” she murmured while getting up again. One look over her shoulder and the last glint of hope was destroyed. Yep, Roronoa Zoro himself. Leaning against a tree, arms crossed, and his freaking smug grin on his face, watching her.

Tashigi did not even start to wonder how he found her at her favorite training spot in the middle of the forest. He probably just got lost on his way to the toilet or something like that.

“How long have you been standing there?”

Roronoa simply shrugged.

“Long enough to see your awful footing.”

It took everything in her not to scream at him, but she had promised Quin not to rage at the pirate. That was the disadvantage of having a priest as a father because he was always careful that everything remained peaceful. Instead, she just grabbed Shigure's hilt harder and glared at the green-haired man.

“I didn’t ask for your advice.”

Again he shrugged.

“I thought I’d tell you anyway.”

Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath.

“Keep your thoughts about my way of fighting to yourself. Please.”

He uncrossed his arms and took a few steps towards her. Instinctively she took a few backwards.

“I could help you with that. Show you a few exercises to better your footing. Maybe that’s the reason why you always trip.”

Did he just really…?

“I’m only gonna tell you this once: I. Do. Not. Want. Your. Help.”

Tashigi made sure to pause after every word so that the idiot would understand her perfectly.

Roronoa just looked at her. Oh, how she hated it that there was not one single emotion readable on this stupidly handsome face. How could you look so expressionless? Anyway, that was not the point, was it?

A heavy sigh escaped her, but then she turned around and started walking back to the church.

“What are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be at Smoker’s side and fighting pirates and stuff like that?” Roronoa shouted after her.

Tashigi stopped in her tracks and spun around to glare at him.

“That is so not any of your business!” she yelled louder than she intended to.

“I was just being curious, woman. Simply thought that a marine had better things to do than to chill in a hot spring on some stupid island.”

Anger started to run through her veins as she tried to stare him down, to no avail obviously.

“You have no right to be curious about any of my choices as a marine”, she growled, still trying not to burst out.

Something shifted in the look of his eyes, something she could not quite pinpoint and then he shrugged his shoulders and spoke:

“Just thought that you, especially as an oh so proud marine, would use any chance for a fight to get better and stronger. Guess, I was wrong.”

And in that exact moment, something popped in her. Roronoa always knew how to push her buttons but this time he pressed the big red danger button. She forgot everything. Her promise to Quin, the fact that she was a sword fighter, that he was a sword fighter, that he was physically superior to her. Just everything.

sShe dropped Shigure to the ground, tightened her fists, and ran towards him. And while Roronoa was still looking at her smuggish, she was certain he did not expect what was coming. Tashigi was sure the reason he fell to the floor was that she caught him by surprise and not the pure strength of the punch, but she was satisfied either way. Because now she was staring him down while he had to look up to her.

“Why the fuck did you do that, woman?”

“The reason I am here is you. You and the stupid crew of yours!”

“What?”

It was clear that he would not understand and while he was trying to stand up again, she pushed him so that he lost his balance and landed right back on the ground. God, she was so angry.

Tears started to fill her eyes because she was so angry and because of all the things that happened in the last six months that led her to come back home.

“What’s wrong with you, Copycat?”

“STOP CALLING ME THAT!”

Roronoa, now on his feet again, looked at her in disbelief. She knew she was making a fool out of herself in front of him, again. She knew that she should not cry and rage in front of him out of all people. But she could not change it. Tashigi had all these emotions bottled up inside her and now they broke loose.

“What is your fucking problem?”

He still didn't get it, did he?“YOU!” she screamed. “You are my problem! You, your crew, and all the things you did six months ago! That is the reason why I am here! That is the reason Smoker ordered our whole unit to take a break and train. To come back stronger! So that something like Marineford could never happen again!”

She was screaming at the top of her lungs the whole time while pounding his chest with her fists. Seemingly, he was unimpressed by it, which made her even angrier. She just inhaled to yell at him further as he grabbed her by the arms and turned her around. With one hand he held her hands on her back and with his other, he had her head firmly in his grasp so that she had no choice but to stare at the ground.

“LET ME GO!”

“NO! You gonna listen to me now!” he growled and leaned them both forward a little, she could feel his breath on her cheek.

“You behave like a fucking crybaby! You trip over your own two feet, you cry, scream and you know only half of everything! You don’t know shit and certainly not what happened to my friends that day. So, you should mind your own damn business, crybaby!”

And with that, he gave her a hard push and let go of her. Now it was her lying on the floor. Without a look back she got back up, grabbed her sword, and made sure that she got away from him as quickly as possible.

*~*~*~*~*~*

Zoro stared at her back as she was walking away. Not entirely sure what he was feeling after this encounter.

Angry? Absolutely.

Hurt? A little.

Confused? Hell yeah.

He could also do without wasting his time on this island, on the same island where SHE was staying. But they were both here and even if they tried to avoid each other, their paths crossed every now and then. At the latest, at these stupid common dinners. To which Zoro himself only went because he liked to rub his presence in her face.

Well, because of that and because Quin was a pretty cool guy. For a priest. But other than that, Zoro still did not understand why Hawk Eyes ordered him to stay on this stupid island for six whole months but discussing it with the man did not help either.

In a way, he even understood Tashigi’s outburst, she has always been a very prideful woman and Marineford must have taken a toll on her. But she needed to understand that this fateful day also hurt a lot of people in so many different ways. She was not special.

It had hurt even him.

That day was what made him beg on his knees to Hawk Eyes to train him. Zoro needed to get stronger. He failed his Captain; he failed his friends and that could never happen again.

“You are the only person I know, that is able to get her so worked up.”

Zoro knew about Quin’s presence since Tashigi pushed him back to the ground after punching him, so, he did not need to turn around.

“We… Have history,” he simply answered, still looking at the direction where Tashigi ran off to.

“Oh, I know everything about your history. Tashigi never gets tired of complaining about your encounters.”

Quin was now standing next to him, eyes fixed on Zoro.

“I didn’t know that she would be here at the same time you would. But I don’t believe in coincidence, I believe in God and he never gives us more than we can handle.”

Zoro furrowed his brows. “I don’t believe in God.”

A soft smile spread on Quin’s lips. “And I do not expect you to nor do I want to change that. But I hope that you two can sort out your problems at some point. God had his reasons to place you both on this island at the same time.”

Both men looked in each other's eyes for quite some time then Quin sighed, “Anyway, see you at dinner.”

And with that, Quin was gone again. Here Zoro thought Tashigi was weird but her father was even weirder.

*~*~*~*~*~*

After Zoro’s and Tashigi’s encounter in the forest two weeks ago, the evenings together got tenser and tenser. Although they were not talking to each other, they were definitely glaring at each other. Constantly.

Quintanilla has always been a pretty patient man to begin with and his time as a Priest helped him build his patience even more but these two? They were too stubborn for their own good. He had watched them both since they arrived on his beautiful island and both of them dedicated their time to their training.

They were both fighters, albeit on different sides of the law. The fight was their way of settling things, making final decisions. Fighting was a big part of their lives.

Which was understandable, even in his eyes. Although, he always tried to find a peaceful solution first. Tashigi did her best to avoid the pirate, now even more than before and Zoro… Well, Zoro probably tried to avoid her too but his sense of direction was seemingly pretty bad so, he had stumbled upon her numerous times.

After all, they did not scream at each other again. But even Quin was running out of patience, even though he still believed that the Lord had planned for them to be here at the exact same time.

He was watching them now too. It was dinner time and while he sat at the head of the table, Tashigi sat to his right and Zoro to his left. Not one word had been spoken in the last thirty minutes, they all just sat in silence and were eating. Of course, the two sword fighters were glaring at each other every now and then.

Quin cleared his throat. And now they were looking at him. “I’ve had enough. You two behave like children instead of responsible adults. That is why I decided that from tomorrow on you two are going to spend the mornings in the orphanage! There you’re going to help the staff getting the kids ready, breakfast, and their morning lectures.”

“But what about training?!” they both shouted simultaneously and instantly looked at each other and then away again.

“I am not doing anything! She is the one who’s behaving like a crybaby!”

“Stop calling me that!”

“I call you what I want to, crybaby!”

“You…!”

“Stop it! That is exactly what I am talking about. You two will do as I told you! Your training can wait until lunchtime,” Quin said and was tempted to rub his temples in annoyance.

“Quin, please…”

“No, Tashigi. This matter is not up for discussion!”

Tashigi gave him one last look then put her cutlery down, stood up, and left the room. Quin knew that she would spend the whole night pouting but she would show up the next morning at the orphanage nevertheless.

*~*~*~*~*~*

“Are you even listening to me, woman?”

Tashigi blinked and looked at her former superior again. “I am afraid I am not.”

Smoker looked at her reproachfully, the letter still in hand. “Tashigi,” he started with the softest voice she ever heard from him. “If they officially charged you then the next step is the court date. And with the proof they have…”

He stopped himself and took a long time just looking at her. Eventually, he started talking again. “With the proof they have and if you keep refusing to cooperate, they will definitely sentence you to death! You have to…”

“Let me stop you right there, Vice Admiral,” she said, lifting her hand in a stopping motion.

“I don’t have to do anything other than keeping my promise. And I promised to never ever tell anyone his name.”

“Tashigi! They are going to kill you! Don’t be so stubborn, woman!”

Tashigi took a few more steps forward and when she was standing right in front of Smoker, she put her arm through the bars and laid her hand on Smoker’s cheek. Something she would never dare to do while still being his subordinate.

Smoker looked at her wide-eyed.

“I appreciate your concern, I really do. But I've always known that this right here,” she began and looked back over her shoulder to the disgusting place the Navy called a cell, “Would be a possibility when I decided to listen to my heart and if this is my fate then I accept it.”

He pulled her hand from his cheek and gave it a tight squeeze before he let go.

“So, you choose to die to protect that stupid pirate boyfriend of yours?” he asked in a toneless voice, squinting his eyes at her. But even that could not hide the slightly scared look in them.

“I do.”

“Stupid woman,” were his last words before he turned around and left her alone again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Big thank you once again to [Luna](https://archiveofourown.org/users/lunnamars/pseuds/lunamars) for beta reading and helping me smooth out my transitions.


	3. Orphanage

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chapter One Recap: We learned that our two love birds are in a secret relationship. And while Zoro defends his newest letter with questionable methods, Tashigi gets arrested for suspicion of high treason. 
> 
> Chapter Two Recap: Smoker returned and confronted his former Captain with her newest love letter. Though Tashigi paid no mind to his scolding and revelled in her memory.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one is for [Violet_violence](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Violet_violence/pseuds/Violet_violence) for giving me a reason to rethink some things with her review on Chapter two. Sorry, it took so long. 💚

**Chapter Three: Orphanage**   
  
Over the next few days, Smoker did nothing other than to try to get a grasp of Chiba. There were too many things that didn’t add up, too many unanswered questions. He really needed to talk to the Admiral.    
  
But whenever Smoker went to his office, the door was closed, meaning Chiba was either not around or in an important meeting. So, Smoker had to resort to drastic measures.

  
“Vice Admiral!” He didn’t stop walking while five men of his unit were rushing to his side, clipboard in hand. 

  
“What?” The Vice-Admiral growled when they caught up with him.

  
“We’ve been in the city all day long, collecting hundreds of signatures”, Takumi said.   
  


“Yes! We’re gonna do it the whole week and with that many signatures Admiral Chiba…”, Sora continued.   
  


“He will have no other choice than to set Captain Tashigi free!” Hayato finished.   
  
He stopped and looked at his soldiers, a heavy sigh escaping his lips. The entire G-5 unit had decided to start a petition to free Tashigi but the chances of succeeding were nonexistent. Especially with a charge of high treason, but Smoker didn’t have it in him to tell them the brutal truth. Not this time.    
  
“Keep up the good work!” was all he had to say to put a grin on the soldier’s faces as they turned around to update the rest of the unit. Was it a bit cruel? Sure.   
  
Was he pleased that his unit was occupied with this task? Yes. The G-5 didn’t have the best reputation but that didn’t define the love they had for Tashigi.    
  
At first, Smoker had been worried about how Tashigi would handle the men and their behavior. She had been raised by a priest who thought highly of manners and was one of the most polite human beings he had ever met. She had proven herself more than once and had earned the loyalty of the G-5.; their loyalty and love.    
  
Without knocking first, he opened the door to Admiral Chiba’s private room and marched in. His superior looked up from the book he was reading and glared at him.

  
“What is this supposed to mean, Vice Admiral?” he demanded to know.   
  
Smoker closed the door with a kick, walked over to the Admiral and placed the whiskey bottle he had brought on the small side table. “We need to talk, Evandro.”   
  
The white hunter could tell that the use of his superior's first name didn’t sit well with him but he couldn’t care less. Chiba closes the book with a sigh, grabbing two glasses, and pouring them both a drink. “Let me guess: it is about your former Captain.”   
  
“Correct.”

  
Chiba sipped on the whiskey and then looked at him out of his green eyes, “It is an open case, I am not allowed to talk with you about it.”

  
Smoker didn’t want to hear any of it, he just looked at Chiba sternly. “Evandro! I have known this girl since she was fifteen years old. I basically raised her, and formed her into the marine she is today! Justice was always the most important thing for her so excuse me that it’s hard to believe that she would voluntarily betray the navy.”   
  
“Her boyfriend is a pirate, Smoker, that…”, Chiba started with a sigh. 

  
“And where did you get that information from? I read her boyfriend’s latest letter. There’s absolutely no indication that he’s a pirate,” Smoker interrupted.    
  
“We had an anonymous tip to search for his letters in her room. They were signed with a pirate skull!”

  
The Vice-Admiral grunted, “So what? Maybe it is a stupid joke or he likes to tease her because she works for the navy.”   
  
Chiba sighed again, emptying his drink, and standing up, “Then why is she so determined to not give us any information about him? All she has to do is to give us his name and the place where he’s currently at. We could verify it and then she would be free again. Maybe even get her rank as a Captain back,” he argued while taking something out of his desk drawer.   
  
Smoker flinched. He too had asked himself the same question. Tashigi could have avoided all of this if it was a false accusation. “Maybe… she does not want her private life to be discussed openly.”   
“She wants to protect her privacy more than she wants to live?” Chiba asked with a piece of paper in hand. 

  
“Who am I to understand the ways of this stubborn woman?” Smoker answered, shrugging.   
  
Chiba took his time looking at the paper in his hands as he handed it over to Smoker, pouring himself another drink after. “I’m not supposed to show you this, however, I think there’s no other way I can get back to reading my book this evening otherwise.” 

  
Smoker’s gaze drops down to the paper in his hand. Another one of these damned letters, signed with that stupid pirate skull.    
  
_ Dear Babygirl, _ _  
_ _ It's one of those days where I really fucking miss you, woman (ugh… and look what you’ve done to me. Making me say these romantic shit). But it's not like anybody else will ever read the lines I write to you, right? So, fuck it, I guess I'm allowed to be a little sappy. _

_ Ya know, on days like today I really hate that we’re on different sides of the law. It fucking sucks that we chose to live our lives so differently. How much easier would it be if we were both just normal people?  _

_  
_ _ I know how much it pains you to not be with me. Because, I mean, let's be honest, your life revolves around me, doesn't it? Just kidding, woman. I know how much it pains me. But ya know what? I know that one day we'll fucking be together. I'll give my all to achieve my dream and then… Yeah, and then, I'll be by your side. Believe me when I say I won't give a shit about what anybody else has to say about that. _

_  
_ _ Yesterday I had to think back to the time your dad made us work in the orphanage. Do you remember that too? _ _  
_ _ Those were the days, Babygirl. When I could see you every day, kiss you every goddamn day. I fucking miss those days, but we chose this life and we will make it. _ _  
_ _  
_ _ And… I love you. Don't you fucking forget that. _ _  
_ _ Your Lover _ **  
  
**

“That,” Smoker started after reading the letter, “does not prove anything.”  
Chiba sighed once again, “Drink your whiskey, old friend.”   
And the Admiral did not speak another word until Smoker emptied his glass and then a second one.   
  
“So, let’s talk about the fact that you are still unwilling to accept that your former Captain is in a relationship with a pirate.”  
Before Smoker had made his way to Chiba’s room, he had put out his cigars, knowing that his superior despised the smell of the smoke.   
But now… he was in desperate need of nicotine and therefore lit himself one cigar. Just one, out of respect.  
  
“Let's summarize it again: she steadfastly refuses to tell us his name, her so-called Lover signs each of his letters with a pirate skull and they both are on opposite sides of the law. What do you conclude from this?”  
Smoker just stared at the man. Did not want to say it out loud.   
  
“Pirate. That is what you conclude from it if it weren’t for Tashigi. If it were anybody else, we wouldn't be having this discussion right now, right?”  
Right. If it weren’t Tashigi, Smoker himself would have not thought twice. Wouldn’t question the minds of his superior. He would have done exactly the same thing as Chiba did.   
  
“What happens now?” he asked while filling their glasses again.   
“We gave all the information to the judges. Currently, we are waiting if they decide to set a court date or if they decide to execute her without a trial. In the meantime…”  
  
“In the meantime, Tanaka tries his best to beat the name out of her,” the white hunter finished the sentence.   
“Yes. If Tashigi gives us his name and his crew before the judges get to a verdict, they might show mercy and she'll only be sentenced to prison.”  
“Fuck!” was the last thing Smoker said that evening.   
  
No more words were spoken while the two of them emptied the bottle of whiskey in silence. **  
****  
** *~*~*~*~*~* **  
****  
** A day later, Tashigi was still mad at Quin nevertheless she had been up early and was now standing in front of the orphanage, waiting (im)patiently for the jerk whose fault all this was. Roronoa Zoro.  
  
Knowing him, she would be waiting for the rest of her life because the idiot wasn’t able to find his way in an enclosed room. Of course, she could have offered to bring him but why should she do that? Never ever would she offer him help voluntarily. Let him wander around the island for the rest of his life. He deserved it.   
  
She suppresses an annoyed groan when she sees Quin coming towards her, and Roronoa, in tow. Her Dad was just too good for this world. The look in his brown eyes was scolding, and she knew that chastisement was coming.   
  
And as soon as both men reached her, her dad opened his mouth and exclaimed, “I am very disappointed with you, Tashigi! I had expected you to show Zoro the way and not let him wander around the island like a lost lamb.” 

  
“Hey!” Zoro interrupted with a scowl on his face but Quin paid him no attention.    
  
Tashigi straightened her back and took a deep breath, “Why on earth should I help him? I don’t even like him and I am only here because you ordered me to.” 

  
She knew her dad well enough to know what was coming next. And as sure as the sun would rise the next morning, he sighed heavily as he placed a hand on her shoulder.    
  
Immediately, she thought back to the many times he did that when she was a child. She was a wild one, always getting into trouble, and always doing things he didn’t want her to. Quintanilla had never screamed at her, never even raised his voice. All he ever had was the scolding look in his eyes and all he ever did was putting his hand on her shoulder.   
  
The last time she remembered him doing that was when she told him she wanted to join the Navy to do something good in the world. He didn’t try to talk her out of it, and asked her to think about it for one more night. However, her decision had already been made, and she had left home the next day.   
  
Now he looked at her the same way he did seven years ago.

  
“Sweetie, on this island, you two are not enemies. You are just two sword fighters who need to learn to accept each other’s presence. I don’t expect you to become the best of friends, but, I expect you to behave around and respect each other. At least as long as both of you are on my island.”   
  
Tashigi’s gaze shifted from him to Roronoa, who was standing behind Quin. Same stupid grin on his face, same swords on his hip. Deep down she knew that Quin was right. She was officially off duty and the pirate was too, in a weird way. But the years of navy training had drilled certain instincts into her, and these instincts weren’t easy to shut off.    
  
She closed her eyes for a short moment, felt Quin squeezing her shoulder firmly, and then looked at him, “I can’t promise you this, Quin.”    
“Well, from tomorrow on you will wait for Zoro and accompany him. Maybe that will get you two to get along a little bit better.”    
  
Tashigi felt herself flushing with anger but she was able to contain it; it wasn’t Quin’s fault. He just did what he thought was the best for everyone. 

All she did was give him a court nod and that seemed to satisfy the priest as he let go of her.    
“I guess I’ll see both of you at dinner tonight. Have fun!”   
  
With a weird feeling in her stomach, she looked after him as he left in the direction of the church, her gaze shifted once again to the pirate but soon drifted down to his three swords. She still envied him for them and her will to get them from him only got stronger. But that had to wait, as much as it hurt to acknowledge it; right now she was still no match for him. Then she wondered while watching his swords… What idiot brought three razor-sharp blades with him when he was going to work at an orphanage?   
  
“Let’s get this over with,” she said and turned around to open the doors. What that idiot did or did not do wasn’t her problem. Although… she wouldn’t be surprised if Quin would find a way to make her responsible if something happened to one of the kids because of Roronoa’s stupid swords.    
  
“If that isn’t sweet little Tashigi!” a female voice shouted as soon as Tashigi and Roronoa entered the big, old building. The moment Tashigi’s brown eyes registered the lady walking towards them, warmth spread through her whole body and she broke out in a big fat grin.   
  
“Aiko! It is so good to see you again!” she said while being wrapped up in a warming welcome hug. 

  
“I am so happy that you are back, Tash. You’re looking awesome!” Aiko answered, looking her up and down.    
  
Five years had passed since the two had seen each other, and while Tashigi went through late puberty, age had caught up with Aiko. The once brown hair was now grey, grey eyes a little bit glassy and her face now had more wrinkles than Tashigi could remember. But glassy or not, the look in Aiko’s eyes were still full of love and warmth; the pressure of her hands was still giving her a feeling of home and security.    
  
“Thank you. You look pretty yourself,” Tashigi said. 

“Stop kidding me, Tash. I am getting old and I am aware of that. And who is your pretty little friend there?” 

  
And with that, the joy of reunion vanished and Tashigi was reminded of the pirate right behind her. 

  
“Roronoa Zoro,” the swordfighter answered, offering Aiko his hand to shake.    
  
Which led Tashigi to raise her brows in surprise. Manners? She didn’t know he had something like that. 

  
“Oh. You are the pirate then, right?” Aiko asked and shook his hand. 

  
“At your service.” 

  
Now Tashigi was completely confused. Where did he pick that up?   
  
“Nice to meet you, Zoro. I am Aiko and I run this orphanage. I am glad to get you two as my helpers. There are never enough people to help with the little monsters that call themselves kids,” Aiko laughed. Roronoa cracked a smile and Tashigi was now utterly perplexed. 

What was going on?   
  
“Anyway. The bigger kids are already up and getting ready for breakfast, but I really could use some help with the toddlers. We are running a little behind schedule today. So, follow me please.”

  
The elder woman had already turned around and started walking when she looked over her shoulder at Zoro, saying, “Oh, Zoro. I would prefer if you wouldn’t bring your swords tomorrow. The kids are easy to impress and even easier to influence. I don’t want them to attack each other with their butter knives.”   
  
Tashigi couldn’t resist risking a look over to Roronoa and it was a delight to see his sulking face and disappointed look, but surprisingly he didn’t argue with Aiko. Instead, he just nodded. 

  
“Thanks,” said Aiko, and the three of them walked through the hallways in silence.    
  
That was until Aiko opened the door to the toddler bedroom, and both Tashigi and Roronoa stopped dead in their tracks. The whole room was a mess, five toddlers running around. Some half-dressed, some in their underwear, and some only in diapers. Bedding and clothes were strewn all over the floor and the noise was deafening.   
  
“Good morning, kids!” Aiko shouted over the screams and suddenly the whole room was quiet.    
All eyes were now on the three adults. While Tashigi and her unwanted companion for the day both looked horrified, Aiko had the biggest smile on her lips and crouched down. 

Immediately all five toddlers were running towards her, screaming again.    
  
If Tashigi wasn’t so intimidated by all the screaming and toddler feet trampling all over, it would probably be a lovely sight to see all the kids hugging Aiko lovingly, but no. She was way too horrified to enjoy the scene.    
  
Shortly after the group hug ended, Aiko and the toddlers looked over to Tashigi and Roronoa. Suddenly Tashigi felt uneasy. She liked kids, even babies, but only in small doses. Not in bulks of five.   
  
A glance over to the pirate and his horrified look told her that he was feeling something similar. Did Roronoa Zoro ever have contact with kids? Tashigi could not think of one reason why the pirate would have come in contact with them. Other than kidnapping, but that wasn’t a thing the Straw Hat’s did.    
  
Aiko’s voice pulled her out of her musing, “Kids, let me introduce you to my friends, Tashigi and Zoro. They will help you get ready in the morning from now on. Zoro, Tashigi, these are Inu, Sango, Gini, Fuse, and Skel.”   
  
Three boys and two girls now looked at them, eyes widening, and Tashigi could feel her flight reflex kicking in but she resisted the urge to turn around and run away. That would only embarrass her in front of Roronoa. He had already seen her in more embarrassing and humiliating moments than she ever wanted him to.   
  
“So, their clothes are in the dresser. The drawers are labeled. Breakfast starts in thirty minutes,” Aiko explained while exiting the room. 

  
“Are you leaving?!” Tashigi and Roronoa yelled at the same time.    
  
The woman just looked at them in confusion,   
“Of course. There are still other kids that I need to get ready. I assumed a marine and a pirate would be capable of getting five toddlers dressed and ready for breakfast.”    
Oh… good old Aiko targeting Tashigi’s pride and to no surprise, it worked. With newfound determination, she turned around and grabbed herself a toddler. _  
  
_

*~*~*~*~*~*

**_  
_ ** Three hours later, Tashigi was more than done for the day, at least mentally. It had taken them an hour to get the toddlers somewhat ready. Well, in the end, every one of them was dressed in clean clothes.    
  
Who cared that Gini’s hair wasn’t properly brushed or that Skel still had the toothbrush in his mouth when Roronoa sat him down for breakfast? Both of them ignored Aiko’s disapproving looks.    
  
Helping them eat breakfast was another level of craziness. 

  
They were toddlers, the youngest a year old and the oldest two and a half, their hand-eye-coordination was a mess and Sango seemed to get a kick out of spitting his oats back in Roronoa’s face.    
  
After the third time, Tashigi couldn’t contain her laughter any longer, karma quickly caught up to her as Gini decided to throw her bowl right at Tashigi’s face. Of course, now it was the pirate's turn to laugh out loud.   
  
After finally dropping off the toddlers at their morning playgroup, Aiko has mercy and tells them to go on with their day outside of the orphanage. 

  
“Ah… I’m in desperate need of a shower,” Tashigi says as soon as they leave the building. She was more talking to herself than to the man who of course had something to say. 

  
“It’s only food. Don’t be a crybaby about it.” 

  
Anger rushed through her and she glared at him, “If you don’t mind walking around with drying oatmeal on your face and hair, fine! I prefer being clean. Besides, I wasn’t even talking to you.”   
  
“Who were you talking to then? Your imaginary friends?” he mocked. 

  
It took all of her self control to not punch him; it was useless anyway. But why was it so easy for him to get under her skin? She took a few deep breaths but that did little to help her calm down so, through gritted teeth she spoke, “Can I accompany you back to the church?”   
  
She did not want to but she wasn’t in the mood for another scolding from her dad. 

  
“Nope,” was the only thing he said before heading straight to the orphanage.   
Tashigi was pretty sure that this wasn’t the place he wanted to go but he wouldn’t listen to her anyway.   
  
  
*~*~*~*~*~* **  
****  
** Zoro took his time getting ready the next morning.   
On purpose. 

Let that copycat woman wait. He knew that this would make her angry but he also knew that at this time of the day, Quin would be around. And if Quin was around, the woman wouldn’t dare to yell at him.    
  
As he could no longer drag out the inevitable, he stepped to the door but looked back to his swords leaning beside the bed. It felt weird leaving them behind, he already missed their weight on his hip but Aiko was right.    
  
An orphanage was not the right place for swords and he learned yesterday that kids, especially toddlers, liked to grab things that they weren’t allowed to. With a sigh, he stepped out of his room and was greeted with Tashigi’s murderous glare.   
  
She was in the middle of opening her mouth when Quin walked by. Immediately she shut her mouth, giving Zoro one last glare before storming off. 

  
Could this day get any better?   
  
He took his time following her. First, he greeted Quin and wished him a good day, and then he slowly walked after her. Not one word was spoken between them on their way to the orphanage but Zoro had expected that. He just watched her stomp in front of him.    
  
Copycat was the type of person who let her emotions lead her actions and normally there wasn’t so much wrong with that but as a sword fighter, this could be dangerous. 

  
Sure, anger or hurt were sometimes the keys to get better and defeat a stronger opponent but Tashigi needed to learn how to filter her emotions and stop wearing her heart on her sleeve.    
  
As the orphanage came into view Zoro`s thoughts drifted to yesterday.    
  


He still thought that helping there was a waste of precious training time but there was no use arguing with the priest. That man was as stubborn as his daughter.   
  
Zoro never had problems with kids. He didn’t particularly like them but he accepted their existence. Toddlers on the other hand… Fuck, toddlers were a thing that never really was on his radar. They were cute to look at but other than that they were pretty useless.   
  
They couldn’t even get dressed on their own! 

  
The only good thing that happened yesterday was that one of those brats threw their bowl at Copycat. That, and the fact that the two of them hardly argued during their “work” with the kids simply because they had other things on their minds.    
  
Of course, that had changed as soon as they set foot out of the orphanage. Zoro didn’t know why but it was fucking thrilling to tease her until she exploded. 

  
It wasn’t really for the fact that she reminded him of Kuina. Although she still resembled his dead friend a bit, Tashigi was nothing like her.    
  
Personality-wise he meant. 

  
In her own crazy way, Tashigi embraced being a woman where Kuina had always cursed her gender. For Zoro, it was interesting to discover the differences between them. Especially now that there was no way he could escape Copycat for more than a few hours on this island.   
  
“Are you coming or what?” she yelled at him at that moment. 

  
Zoro was tempted to give her the middle finger but decided against it.    
  


Instead, he just smirked at her because that would always provoke her. And in fact, her glare got a little stronger and he could see her clenching her fists. He picked up speed nevertheless and followed her into the building.    
  
Just like yesterday, Aiko was walking towards them but this time she had a screaming baby in her arms. The sound was deafening. 

  
“Oh my… Who is this?” Copycat asked, leaning over the baby. 

  
“The newest addition to our family. She arrived this morning and hasn't stopped crying since. No matter what we do.” 

“So, she’s a crybaby. Just like you, Copycat,” Zoro said.   
  
Oh, if looks could kill but this opportunity had been too good to let it pass. She didn’t answer, only glaring at him but after a few seconds looked back at the baby. “What is her name?” 

  
“She doesn’t have a name yet.”   
  
Tashigi looked at the older woman wide-eyed, “What? Why? Did her parents not give her a name?” 

  
Aiko began to bounce the baby again but the screaming continued, “Tash… her mother gave her away as soon as she had given birth. We will give her a name.”   
  


Zoro took a step towards the girl group and too looked at the child. She was cradled in a pink blanket, a head full of black hair and her face had turned red from all the screaming. 

“Why would someone ever give up on their own flesh and blood?” Tashigi asked. She sounded mesmerized and her eyes were locked on the baby. 

  
“Reasons, Tashigi. There are so many reasons and we have no right to question them,” Aiko answered.   
  
Zoro looked at her, he never really thought about the possible reasons why parents gave their kids away. He always assumed the parents of kids in an orphanage were simply dead. 

  
“Can I hold her?” Copycat asked with a hesitant voice. 

  
“Hell no! Don’t give her that baby! I know how clumsy she is. She would only drop that poor brat,” Zoro interjected as soon as he heard Tashigi’s question.   
  
“Shut up! I promise to be careful.” 

The last part wasn’t directed at him, and Aiko simply smiled, “Go ahead. I will be more than happy if someone else bounces her around.”    
  


And with that, she handed over the crying brat to Tashigi. Zoro watched the scene carefully, ready to catch the baby at any moment.    
  
But as soon as the copycat laid both arms around the bundle the crying stopped. 

  
“Oh,” Zoro and Aiko were surprised. 

  
The little girl looked at Tashigi with big blue eyes and then grabbed her finger with her small hand.    
  
“See,” Tashigi cooed, “You are a good girl, right? You are a good Babygirl.” 

  
“Babygirl? This is not exactly the most original pet name, huh?” he said, still stunned about the calm baby.   
  
Never in his life, Zoro would have suspected this… Soft side of Tashigi. The look in her brown eyes and the soft smile on her lips, the sight was almost nauseatingly sweet. 

  
“Tashigi! You’ve got the magic touch. Would you mind holding her until she falls asleep?” Aiko asked. 

  
“No, not at all.”   
  
“Wonderful. Then you two go and get the same kids ready as yesterday,” Aiko said, with a naturalness that neither Zoro nor Tashigi could understand.

  
“What?” Zoro yelled. 

How on earth should they do that?    
  
They weren’t able to get them ready on time yesterday. And today would be even worse because Copycat had decided to discover her motherly instincts. Stupid women!

  
But Aiko ignored him and walked down another hallway and Tashigi simply gave him a light kick against his shin and motioned him to follow her. 

  
Great!   
Could this day get any worse?  
  
  
*~*~*~*~*~* **  
****  
** As it turned out, the baby was the perfect way to bribe the five toddlers to behave. As soon as they first laid eyes on her, they wanted to look at and to cuddle her. It was copycat’s idea that everyone who was calmly getting ready was allowed to pet the baby.  
  
Of course, Zoro was the only one able to help them. After all, Tashigi’s hands were already full but to be fair it had been a good idea. Although hell would freeze over before Zoro would admit that openly.  
  
This morning they managed to be at breakfast on time and even then all five toddlers behaved perfectly. Still cooing and awing at the newborn. Even Zoro couldn’t resist looking over to Tashigi and the baby, who was now bottle-fed by the marine.  
  
“More!” Skel demanded at that moment and Zoro shoved the spoon into the toddler’s open mouth. 

  
And while the little boy was now happily munching on his oatmeal, Zoro let his gaze drift through the dining hall. Roughly fifty kids of all ages were seated at numerous tables.   
  
“These are way too many orphans for such a small island,” he said. 

  
Tashigi looked at him surprised, probably because he said something to her that wasn’t a criticism nor an insult. 

  
“Eh,” she started but got interrupted by Skel screaming, “Moooooooore!”   
  
“Here you go brat,” Zoro said and looked the toddler in his big brown eyes. 

  
“Anyway… The kids are from all around, not just from Silver Ait. Aiko has some sort of… contracts with the islands around us. She takes all the kids whose parents died or are not wanted. Without questioning.”   
  
Again, Zoro let his gaze drift through the room before it settled on Tashigi and the small Babygirl in her arms. 

“I could never leave my child alone,” he muttered lost in thought.   
  
Sure, the thought of starting a family and having children of his own never really occurred to him until now. His life was way too unstable for it at the moment. But whenever he did have a kid, Zoro was sure that he would never just shrug his shoulders and give it to some random stranger and never contact them again.  
  
Obviously, there were a million reasons why people would decide to give their kids away. But as far as Zoro could think, for himself, there was not one reason that would drive him to a decision like that. And why the hell did copycat stare at him with the most confused look he ever saw in her beau…. brown eyes?  
  
  
*~*~*~*~*~* **  
****  
** “I’ll call her Leyla.” 

  
“Leyla? That is a stupid name.”

  
“Shut up. It is better than Roronoa Zoro.”

  
“Oi! What…? Don’t you dare simply walk away from me!”   
  
With amusement in his eyes, Quin watched as Tashigi left the dining hall, baby Leyla in her arms. Zoro hot on her heels and five toddlers running or crawling after them. 

  
Oh, what a sight to see.   
  
“So, Aiko, how are they doing?” he asked as soon as the group had left the room. 

  
“Oh, they got better with time. The kids love them, although I am not surprised by that,” Aiko answered while she also observed the unusual pair leave the dining hall. 

  
“Are they fighting? Tashigi and Zoro, I mean.”   
  
“Not really. They bicker and tease each other a lot, but they never scream at each other,” Aiko answered with a smile. 

  
“Oh good.”    
  
Seemed like everything was going according to plan. It was the second week that these two spent their mornings at the orphanage and they seemed to be learning to live with each other’s presence. 

Quin himself had also observed that the heated discussions between the two of them had turned more into bickering than fighting. Another improvement was that his daughter no longer rolled her eyes every time Zoro's name was mentioned.

  
Quin could tell that they were still very much annoyed whenever they had to spend time together but at least there hadn’t been such a huge fight like they had that one time in the forest again.    
  
“Can I ask you a question, my dear friend?” Aiko's voice dragged him out of his reverie.

  
“Of course you can,” Quin answered looking over to her.   
“I know you are a priest and I know Tashigi is your daughter but..." Aiko stopped and cleared her throat, then continued, almost whispering, "Do you see the sexual tension between them too?”   
  
Quin broke out in loud laughter and it took him about five minutes to calm himself enough to talk, “Do you remember this one letter she sent back in the day, in which she raved about the 'cool swords guy' she met in Loguetown?”   
  
It took Aiko a few moments to think about it but then, “The guy that turned out to be a pirate? I still think our girl had a huge crush on that dude.”

  
Quin smiled widely at her, “Well, that dude," he said, stressing each word, while making an invisible quotation mark with his fingers, "as you call him, is...Zoro.”   
  
Open-mouthed Aiko stared at him, “Oh my… Ooooh! This explains everything!”

  
“Right?” Quin asked, a mischievous glint in his eyes.    
  
Aiko leaned herself a little more towards him.“Is that the reason you ordered them to spend time together? Are you trying to set them up?”   
  
“I’m not gonna say that this is the main reason but… I ship them.”   
  


Now it was Aiko’s turn to laugh out loud, “Oh, what a sneaky little priest you are, Quintanilla.”  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Zoro woke up with a heavy heart that morning. Dreaming about his time with Tashigi on Silver Ait did nothing to ease his mind. He still hadn’t heard from her.   
There was still no answer to his latest letter and he was worrying more and more each day.   
  
He couldn’t stop thinking about the reason she hadn’t answered. Zoro hoped that she was simply busy; on a very important mission and there was just no time for her to write to him. Still he tried not to think about that maybe, just maybe, their secret relationship had been discovered by her superiors.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always:
> 
> Big thanks to [Luna](https://archiveofourown.org/users/lunnamars/pseuds/lunamars) for beta reading. And this time a huge thank you to [Inu](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Inurshuh/pseuds/Inurshuh) who also took a big big look at the mess this chapter is.
> 
> I love both of them dearly and you all should check them out (But I'm assuming you already did that ;)

**Author's Note:**

> Questions? Suggestions? Things you really like to read on here?  
> Let me know and I will give my best to include it  
> 💚


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